Ministry wants only elite foreign universities here

NEW DELHI: It Is not just the N-deal that has the UPA government pulling in different directions. A legislation to allow foreign education providers to set up base in India is another. And the minister for human resource development Arjun Singh took the opportunity given by Higher Education Summit 2007 to reiterate his position for a regulatory framework that would ensure that only universities of repute can operate in India. “We do not want fly-by-night operators,” Mr Singh said.

Mr Singh’s position comes perilously close to that of Left and is quite removed from that of many of his Cabinet colleagues While the minister was open to the idea of top-drawer institutions like Oxford setting up a campus in the country, the fact is that no elite university is keen on setting up a full-fledged campus. At best, they would be interested in a centre that would allow them to direct research on India.

The legislation for foreign providers — Regulation of Foreign University Entry and Operation (Maintenance of Quality and Prevention of Commercialisation) Bill, 2007 — was not introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament at the behest of the Left. It will not be introduced in the winter session as well. “The issue of entry of foreign university is pending. There has been no occasion to take a decision on it,” Mr Singh said.

The Left wanted the legislation to be reworked, a position the ministry for human resource development is unlikely to be unhappy about, as it had objected to many changes that were introduced by the Group of Ministers debating the bill.

The minister clarified that individual universities are free to enter into collaboration with any foreign university. “Each university has the right to enter into any type of agreement with any foreign university for research and collaborative studies in the mutual interest of both,” Mr Singh said.

The minister said that research has been one of the weak areas that confront higher education. The lack of trained teachers is another area of concern as it was affecting the quality and expansion of higher education. Poverty is another bottleneck in education sector in the country. “The reality is that nearly 30% of the people are under poverty line. There should be proper match between the modern ideas and the reality,” Mr Singh said.

While acknowledging India’s performance in the largely public funded tertiary education, Oxford University chancellor Lord Chris Patten who also addressed the conference drew attention to “the illiteracy rates among girls and boys. The drop-out rates from primary schools.

The proportion of the population over the age of 15 without any schooling — a figure that has fallen steeply since 1960 but 44% is still very high. The problem of managing the teaching profession so that the children in school get the education for which the government has paid.”